title: Seven-year follow-up study of symptoms in asylum seekers and refugees with PTSD treated with trauma-focused groups.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine sustainability of symptom outcomes of a 1-year phase-based trauma-focused, multimodal, and multicomponent group therapy in a day treatment program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over an average period of 7 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Iranian and Afghan patients (N = 69) were assessed with self-rated symptom checklists for PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms before (T1), after (T2), and up to 11 years upon completion of the treatment (T3). A series of mixed model regression analyses was applied to determine the course of the measured symptoms over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At T2, all symptoms were reduced, but PTSD symptoms showed the strongest reduction. The trend of symptom reduction continued up to 5 years posttreatment and was similar for all the examined symptoms. After 5 years, all symptoms started to worsen, but remained under baseline levels at T3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The applied treatment appears to improve mental health of the studied sample on both the short and longer term.
authors.affiliation: Psychotrauma Centrum Zuid Nederland.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Drožđek
authors.forename: Astrid M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kamperman
authors.forename: Wietse A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Tol
authors.forename: Jeroen W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Knipscheer
authors.forename: Rolf J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kleber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000346:Afghanistan; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014104:Torture / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: asylum seekers; follow-up; group therapy; posttraumatic stress disorder; refugees